As many of you will already be aware these changes come into effect this season for U7-U9 and will likely follow those ages through their footballing journeys. Please see an extract from a statement by The FA.

“In 2022, we became the first national association to successfully adopt the International Football Association Board (IFAB) trial to remove deliberate heading in grassroots football matches at U12 level and below.

We first introduced the IFAB trial in England following our steps to bring in heading guidance in youth football in 2020, and then the implementation of heading guidance in training across every level of the professional and amateur game in 2021.

After two seasons of the IFAB trial in English football, we will now introduce a new rule to phase out deliberate heading in matches in all affiliated grassroots youth football between U7-U11 level over the next three seasons. This includes all leagues, clubs and any affiliated school football matches – starting with U7-U9 level from the 2024-25 season, then increasing to include U10 level from 2025-26, and U11 level from 2026-27.

From the start of the 2024/25 season for U7-U9 teams, we will be rolling out deliberate header restarts, touchline restarts and removing sanctions in the event of a deliberate header in a match.”

These changes to the laws of the game are not optional and will be adopted by leagues and enforced by referees.

Our coaches have been given instruction and advice on how to coach the players through these changes. In addition, referees have been instructed and training to by empathetic to players and help everyone through these changes.

From a club perspective we would like to try to help educate parents and supporters on these new changes. So please look out for guidance videos on our website alongside keeping in close contact with individual coaches.

The introduction of new rules is always difficult and will take time to bed in. These changes are introduced deliberately in the development age groups rather than competitive league age groups to help players, parents, coaches and officials get used to the new rules as the bed in over a number of seasons.

In the videos section of the Pumas website you will find a couple of useful videos to help communicate the changes that are coming. Please take some time to review these so you have a clear understanding. if you require any more information please reach out to individual coaches in the first instance.

It is therefore absolutely vital that parents and supporters have an even higher degree of REPSECT, empathy and understanding for the young officials that will likely be refereeing games at these age groups.

Please ensure we support all the children at these games – that’s players & officials and let’s give them all the respect, patience and understanding that will be required to successfully implement these changes.

Please note that Pumas have a very strict code of conduct for everyone involved at the club. Let's ensure we hold ourselves to the high standards we have set over the years !!